Cast-off buckle.



H. KBRNGOOD.-

CAST-OFF BUCKLE.

APPLICATION rum) Mn 31, 1912.

1,059,303. Patented Apr. 15, 1913.

INVENTOR Attorney UNITED STATES; PATENT OFFICE.

HERMAN KEBNGOOD, OF BALTIMDRE,.MARYLAND, ASSIGNOE TO ALMA MANUFAG'TUBING COMPANYOFBALTIMORE CITY, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, A CORPORA'T TION0F MARYLAND.

, CAST-OFF BUCKLE.

Patented Apr. 15, 11913..

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN Knn veooo, a citizen of the United States,residing at- Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, haveindependent strapends, attached at the side seams of the trousers and having their freeends long enough to be secured together at front. In this latter classof belts it is quite desirable that the buckle should be capable ofadjustment upon the strap ends so that it can be located at the frontand in. the, middle whatever changes in adjustment maybe made. It is.therefore, impracticable to permanently attach the buckle to:

either strap end and at the same time permit of the centering of thebuckle in any adjustment. The object of the invention is to provide. abuckle, or, to be exact, a cast-ofi', de-l signed primarily andprincipally to meet these conditions. I

The invention consists of a cast-off or buckle having reversely'arranged similar. strap-end en aging devices, so that both of the strapen s maybe taken up at pleasure and the buckle centered with anyadjustment, all as I will proceed now more par-; ticularly to explainand finally claim. In the accompanying drawings illustrat-i. ingtheinvention, in the several figures off which like parts are similarlydesignated, Figure 1 is a perspective View of the body: portion of apair of trousers having this invention applied. Fig. 2 is a erspectiveview of the device detached. ig. 3 is aj perspective view showing thethree com ponent parts of the device detached. Fig. 4 is a top planviewyFig. bis bottom plan. view, and Fi ,6 is a longitudinal section. Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section with the strap ends in engaged positionin the buckle. Fig.8 is'atransverse section. While the buckle may beused for other than-the hereinabove specified purpose, I will confinethis explanation to a buckle for .use in connecting the ends of a strap,or strap ends, without SGWIIIg'ODOthBIWISI-E unadjustably securing onesuch end to the buckle, -and so that both ends may be ad justed to takeup slack or for other purposes. It is also to be noted that while thedevice is herein referred .to as a buckle, it is more exactly describedby the term cast-oil, owing to its arrangement upon the goods.

The frame comprises side bars 1, connected by end bars Qand 3, and anysuitable number, usually two, cross bars 4 and 5; and in the preferredconstruction, these elements are all arranged on the same level; that isto say, for the purposes of the pres ent invention, it is unnecessary toelevate or depress the cross bars, for example, or either of them, withrelation to the side bars and end bars. The side barshave theintroverted flanges .6, which form guideways for the sliding tongues,presently described. The buckle frame thus constructed is by preferencebent to an arc of a circle, orgiven any other contour to conform to thebody upon which it is designed for use.

If desired, the cross bar 5 maybe somewhat wider thanthe cross bar 4.

Two sliding tongues 7 and 8 of like con- .struction are used, one ofthem being arranged between the bars 4 and 5, to c0- operate with the,cross bar 5, and serve as a medium for adjustably securing the understrap end, and as a substitute for sewing or other means forunadjustably fastening thestrap" end to the frame; and the other slidingtongue being arranged between the end bar 2 and cross-ban to cooperatewith said end bar 2 to clamp the other strap end in any adjustedposition; and these slidingtongues slide in opposite directions in orderto effect their respective functions. j

The sliding tongues 7 and 8 are of identically or substantially the sameconstruction as the sliding tongue of my application for patent filedMay 10, 1912, Serial No. 696,417, (patented January 7, 1913, No.1,049,732) and the (lBSCIiPtlOIllI) that case of the tongue thereinshown may be repeated here, with the necessary changes, and while thedescription refers to one tongue only, it is equallyapplicable to theother.

Each sliding tongue has an end bar 9 with 'a depending finger-hold 10 onits inner edge; and another end bar 11 is connected with the end bar 9by the side bars 12 and theseside bars are extended at 13 beyond and aftand upstanding sufiiciently toserve asstops, which by coming intocontact with the transverse members of the frame when moved inoppositedirections arrest the outward and inward movements of the tongues andhence prevent the escape of the tongues from the frame when once inposition.

Thus, the it ridges 14 on the tongue. 7 cooperate with the crossbars 4]and 5, and the ridges 14 on the tongue 8 cooperate with thehrossbar 4and end bar 5 for this pur- Pose-" -The'tonguemay be inserted in theframe inthe first instance in a number of difi'erent -way s' but,preferably by springing it into 1 g It will be 7 short of the forward orleading edge "3- end bar 11 on which they are made, and this 7 thenleaves portions of this end bar extendw ing forwardly beyondthe ridgesso that this introverted flanges.

tongue is oncelin place in the guideways, it isheld from escape from theframe. in

anyhdirection; the introverted flanges of the lace within the supportingguideways or After" the sliding sides of the frame holding it againstescape faceward, backward and laterally, and its own stops cooperatingwith the adjacent -tran'sverse bars preventing it from escapelengthwise.

0f the 1' leading edge of the sliding tongue will have against I .a;tendency to crowd or bend the strap the adjacent transverse bar of theframe, and if the strap bethin this forward extension will crowd itunderneath the adjacent;edge of the. transverse bar of the frame,

. 1 thus rendering the ridges doubly efficient in their supporting barand the adjacent edge of the transverse bar of the frame.

gripping the strap between themselves and 'As already indicated, theupstanding .ridgesare 'interposed as obstacles to the cs cape of thestrap end when once it is engage'd between the sliding tongue and the adacent part of the frame, and they thus operate by;virtue 'of the factthat they put as many crimps in the strap as there are ridges.Ordinarily two parallel ridges are suificient.

The supporting grooves or guideways formed by the introverted flanges onthe side barsiof the frame are of a width to take easilythe: sidebars ofthe tongue, andin su'ch'sway as to per'mit'the tongue to move thereinlengthwise without cramping. The flat: straight edge character of thesides of the'tonguepeculiarly fits the tongue for free movement in saidgrooves or guideways.

observed that the ridges 14 fall" menses As shown," the tongue '7 islocated between the cross bars 4 and 5, and its end bar 11 is arrangedto underlie the cross bar 5 so as to grip the strap end under that bar,while the sliding tongue 8 is arranged between the cross bar 4 and endbar 2 and so as to grip its strap end between itself and the end bar 2.

As shown -in Figs. 1 to 7, one of, the strap ends 15, herein referred toas the under end, is passed up through the opening in the sliding tongue7 and'thence between the cross bars 4 and 5 and then down over the crossbar 4 beneath the buckle frame. A pull upon the buckle in one directionand the strap on the right-hand in Fig. 7 in the other, will result in.drawing the tongue toward the cross bar 5 and hence crampingthe,

strap firmly and immovably in position. This then will serve as thebuckle anchoring strap. The other strap 17 would then have its leadingend passed up through the opening in the tongue8 and thence through theopening between the cross bar 4 and end bar 2 and thence down throughthe opening'16 between the cross bar 5 and end bar 3 when it would beengaged by the tongue at that end of the frame next to end bar 2. Theend bar thus serves as a hold-down for the outer end of the strap 17 Inthese positions any pull upon the. strap ends in opposite directionswould serve to tighten the holdof the buckle upon the strap ends;--- andyet in such a way that the necessary adjustment 4 may be glvento thestrap ends without impairing the central position of the buckle withrelation to. the body of the wearer.

' As one illustration of the use of the invention, attention is directedto Fig. .1, where the strap ends 15 and17 are securedto the sides of apair of trousers, as at 18, and the necessary adjustment in such anarrangement may be made by drawing up the strap 15, or under strap, andthen drawing'up'the I over strap 17 through the'buckle.

By virtue of the fact that the buckle is attacha-ble to its anchoringstrap or strap end without sewing, or other permanent fastening, and byvirtue of the further'fact that the buckle may be secured in anadjustable manner upon its anchoring strap, I have herein referred to:the buckle as a cast-0E buckle and it may be described also as aself-attaching buckle.

It is to be observed that the buckle of this invention engages the strapendswithout looping them, and that these strap ends overlie one anotherfiatwise. V I

What Iclaim is:- T p 1. A cast-off buckle, 'comprising a; frame havingside bars, an.- end 'bar,1two:"intermediate cross-bars, andguidewaysiand supports for two tongues, combined :with-such tonguesslidably mounted .in. guide:

ways and supports, one of said tongues an-i,

iac"

thereby in the frame and adapted :to cooperate with one of saidcross-bars to receive and engage an anchoring strap end, and the othertongue arranged at the other end of the frame between the end barthereat and the adjacent cross-bar and retained therebfi in the frameand adapted to cooperate wit said end bar to receive and engage theother strap end, whereby the buckle may be ad justed equally on bothstrap ends and a cen: tral location of the buckle on the body of theuser insured.

2. A cast-ofi' buckle, comprising a frame having sidebars,tongue-supporting means, end bars, and two intermediate cross-bars,combined with two sliding tongues provided with means to retain thetongues 1n longitudinal engagement with the frame and crimp the strapends engaged thereby and to grip the strap ends transversely, saidtongues adapted to be moved in opposite directions in: saidtongue-supporting means,

one of the said tongues arranged between the two intermediatecross-barsand adapted 1 to grip an anchoring strap end between itself anone of the intermediate cross-bars so that said buckle maybe held'indefinite position on said strap endya'nd the other tongue arran edbetween the other intermediate crossar and the adjacent end bar,

and adapted to engage the other strap end

